Top bracket



Juhe 24, 1930. s. R. LAWTON 1,768,364

TOP BRACKET Filed March 2, 1929 (j mmy Patented June 24, 1930 umrsn stares rarest orriee J STUART R. LAWTON, OF- DETROIT, MICHIGAN-,- Assieno' To GENERAL MoTbRs" ofoR: PORATION, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION or DELAWARE] Tor BRAoKET Application filed March 2, 1929. Serial N'oz 344,020.

The bracket to which this invention relates is intended specifically for use in connection with so-called one-man-tops, as em ployed upon variousmodels of automotive vehicles; and it is a special object of this invention to provide inexpensive and highly conveniently and reliably element of a veefficient means for connectlng a front frame hicle top with an upwardly extending stanchion element or post of the general character commonly provided at the ends of wind shields; v

The post referred to being assumed to upwardly terminate in rounded heads which have constrictions or necks therebe'low, and it is an object of this invention to provide, preferably from sheet metal, a comparatively rugged bracket, this being ordinarily Z-shaped in longitudinal section, upwardly concave, and I and/or reinforced flanges disposed at an angle to the body thereof and through which threadedelernentsmay extend. Said threaded elements serve respectively to secure the bracket to a front frame element-of thementioned' top and to receive a screw which is the mentioned head or" adapted to engage neck upon the pro ection of said head through an aperture, preferably keyhole-shaped or- "otherwise adapted to render a-head self-retaining in said bracket.

Other objects of this invention,-inc'1uding features of reinforcement and features whereby a longitudinal adjustment of the bracket upon a frame element is facilitated, may be best appreciated from the following description of alternative forms of said bracket, taken in connection with the aps including suitably curved -23," continuous 3 is a vertical sectional view, on a' Fig. 4 isqa' side elevational View, comparable with Fig. 3 but showing features of modification.

F ig; 5 is an end elevational view, taken fromqthe general direction indicat'edby the arrows of Fig. 4, a right-hand half thereof being broken away.

Fig. 6 1s a-v1ew form, taken similarly to Fig. 4, butwitlr the parts broken away to a median plain.

Fig. 7is a partial topplan view, corresponding to the right hand portionof the Fig. 2, and taken substantially as indicated by the arrow 7 of Fig. 6.

Referring to details of that specific embodiment of the present invent-ion'which isshown' in Figs. 1-3 inclusive,- a' motor vehicle 10 is'shown asp'rovided with a so call'edone-man top 11, comprising a frontframe element 12, and with a wind shield organization 113, comprising a stanchionor side-arm element 14. This terminatesin'. a knob or head 15; d-isposeclabov'e a contriction or neck 16 and adapted tobe receivedin and to ex:- tend through an opening in a bracketl'l", sefcured'to-theframe element 122 Bracket 1-7:, to which the present invention more par'ticula'rly relates, 'will be seen to comprise not only an upwardly concave body? portion- 1:8,: provided with a key-hole or othershaped? aperture 19,: for engagement by the neck! 16 upon any: post 14 after the upward insertion of a head 15' therlethrough, but also wit-hi a downwardly; extendingflange 20 and an upwardlyx extending fiange- 21,the* resultbeing at Z-sliaped configuration; in longitiudi nal SGCtl'OD rlS'JbBSl'} shown in Fig. 3;

of another alternative The downwardly extendingifi'ange 20 pref erably. is outwardly convex and? cylindrically orotherwise curved similarly to an inner face 22=of the frame element '12'; a'nd itmay be provided with a central reinforcing ribwith a depression: 24 in the bottom=of'theimain bo'dy 18 of said=bracket,- and also with a plurality of elongated openings 2'5, 2'5",-f'adap.tedw tor receive threadedelements f-orTthe' adjustable attachmentof the" bracket 1 to the frame element 12,-the radius of curvature? here common ta frame element 12- and: flange 20 being" always dife verted U-shaped clip 31 thereto.

ferent from, and preferably greater than the distance of said flange from aperture 19.

Although the bracket 17 is shown as upwardly concave, top edges 26, 26 of its side walls 27, 27, may be continuous with downwardly extending edges 28, 28', at the respective ends of the curved surface 29 of the flange 20,through which the elongated openings 25, 25 horizontally extend; the radius of curvature'of the face 29 may naturally be the same as that of the cooperating inner surface 22 of the frame element 12 and greater than the distance of the aperture 19 therefrom; and the structural char acteristics of the inner or rearward flange 21 are intended to be such as to adapt some releasableinterlocking or head-engaging or neck-engaging element, such as a thumb screw or set screw 80 to be carried thereby.

In Fig. 3, the flange 21 is shown as reinforced by the permanent addition of an in- To assure a durable and non-slipping association of the parts referred to, a staking or welding effect may be relied upon,somewhat as suggested at 32; and, however, the parts referred to are united, some or all plies thereof are intended to be tapped and/or punched and/or interiorly threaded, as at 33, favorably to the secure retention of the screw 30, or its equivalent,theinner end 34 of this screw being adapted to engage either the neck 16 ora downwardly-diminishing surface of the head 15.

In the form shown in Figs. 4 and 5, instead of employing a separate clip in reinforcement of the flange 21, an extension 31 thereof is shown as twice rebent upon itself in such manner as to provide 3-ply wall adapted to be punched or tapped and threaded at 33, in the manner above referred to.

In Figs. 6 and 7 a comparatively short bracket 17 is shown as provided with a flange 21 and this may be arched in two directions and reinforced by an inward folding of an extension 31 integral therewith, and also by an upward and inward folding of an ear or tab 32 ,utilizing metal which is displaced in the cutting of the key-hole or other opening 19 The threaded opening 83 is shown as carried through the three plies provided by the flange 21 its exten- .sion 81 and the tab 32 in such manner as to adapt the inner end 349 of a screw 30 to engage either the neck or a downwardly diminishing portion of a head 15 upon a side arm or stanchion 14 The last-described form of the invention brings the head 15 relatively near to the plane of attachment of the bracket 17 by means of its flange 20 and all of the described forms of the invention will be seen to provide for adequate reinforcement of not only the main body 18 (18, 18 of a bracket, but for favorable curvatures and reinforcements of the respective flanges 20 (20 and 20 and 21 (21, 21*). It will be seen that the flanges 20, 21 are oppositely convex and that the reinforcement of the flange 21 in all cases includes a rebent portion of sheet metal, presumably a portion of the same stock from which the body of the bracket is formed; and that the aperture 19 (or 19*, or 19 is, in all cases, of suflicient size to allow the head 15 to pass freely therethrough; and that the described organizations may aptly be referred to as one-man top brackets for the reason that the described parts are shaped favorably to the interconnection thereof and to such a self-retaining relationship as to obviate any necessity for holding the parts manually together during the tightening of the screw 30, or its equivalent.

Although the foregoing description has included several alternative embodiments of the present invention, it should be understood not only that various features thereof may be independently employed, but that numerous additional modifications might easily be devised, by workers in the art to which this case relates, without involving the slightest departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as the same is indicated in the above and following claim.

I claim:

In means suitable for releasably connecting a top with a windshield post: a bracket including a concave and apertured body which is provided with flanges angularly disposed with reference thereto, said flanges being respectively provided with openings for threaded elements serving to secure said bracket to a top frame element and to receive a screw engaging a terminal element on said post and being formed from sheet metal, and a thread-receiving portion of one of. said flanges being reinforced by means of a rebent and integral sheet metal element which is threaded continuously therewith.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

STUART R. LAWTON. 

